Memorex DVD+R: The Honeymoon is Over

[David K]

For the first time, I’m getting bad discs from Memorex DVD+R. I bought a 50 pack last month from Best Buy, which I just opened and started using. The first three discs all had the same error: error at sector 1400848 (about 75% of the way through the burn). I checked and all the discs were RICOHJPNR01, because I heard that Memorex had started used CMC especially in the 50 packs. I know it is the discs, because I went back to a Memorex jewel pack and a 25 pack and then got perfect burns with the same software/hardware setup.

Anyone else getting these kind of errors? Are the problem discs more likely to be in 50 packs?

I’m going to try to swap this pack for another at Bestbuy and hope they won’t hassle me because it’s been over 30 days. (I don’t want to have to ship them back to Memorex.)

[zoneless]

I once had a problem with a 25-disc dvd+r spindle from Amazon. It was the last disc of the spindle and it (the whole spindle actually) was CMC. I thought that was the end of the world!
Actually, the burning process went fine. The problem occured when i played the disk to about 60% of the movie and it just froze my computer.
I took a close observation of the disc and there was an uneven distribution of the dye on the disc. I guess that was the problem.
However, I am still buying 25-disc spindles from Amazon afterwards and they work fine.
I suggest you to take a look in your spindle and see if you see anything weird with the dye.

[David K]

From what I have read, a sector error towards the edge of the disc is a classic sign of the dye having been spun too thin.

Visually, the dye distribution looks fine.

My burns on these discs would not even complete. I'd get the sector error at 75% and it would abort without finishing or closing the disc, thus they are unplayable.

I supposed even Ricoh is allowed a bad batch now and then, but I hope it is not a sign of a deterioration in their manufacturing standards.